I Could be Your Hero
by costoflove
Summary: Months after being dumped Samantha McCall lives the average life of a good citizen, with two sisters, a District Attorney mother, and a Cassadine cousin with an extended family. Once she's settled in something happens that makes her change her mind.
1. Chapter 1

Title: I Could Be Your Hero

Author: Caramelbrown

Rating:T...M? The rating might boost later on.

Pairing: Cram, LuSam (possible), Liason( hints), Rexis (hints)

Summary: Alternate Universe: Set after Sam was shot and Alexis finds out that they're mother and daughter. Months after her fiancée dumps her Samantha McCall lives the average life of a good citizen, with two sisters, a District Attorney mother, and a Cassadine cousin with an extended family. Once she's settled in something happens that makes her change her mind.

A/N: Alexis does get Sam the job at the Police station this is where our story begins.

* * *

"I don't want to try that."

Samantha McCall opted out of the thin brown water the PCPD called coffee and immediately began rummaging through her purse for quarters. She chose a coke from the vending machine beside the kitchen and sighed at the welcomed caffeine. She walked back to her desk where she had been organizing dozens of her mother's files to be taken over to the courthouse by noon. Looking at her watch and seeing that it was only ten o'clock she decided to relax for a moment, leaning back in her chair. She surveyed her surroundings a quiet morning in the station was quite rare.

Every once in a while Mac would brush through with a petty criminal, usually some kid seventeen or younger whose parents wanted them to learn a lesson. If she timed it correctly Lucky Spencer would be coming into work in five, four, three, two,…and….

"Damn I hate traffic."

"Hey Spencer."

Lucky walked past her desk still grumbling. His desk was across from hers leaving him to plop down into his chair and look up at her from the mound of paper that magically appeared there every morning courtesy of hers truly.

"Sam...does your mother want to kill me?"

"Of course not…Alexis is a kind and good natured woman who would never hurt a fly!"

Lucky deadpanned and Sam laughed almost spilling soda on her crème colored blouse.

"I'm not even going to go there," Lucky laughed leaning back and observing the pile as if it were a beast he had to figure out how to spear and cook on a spit.

"I.hate.Mondays."

"Don't be so negative, at least you get to see me bright and early."

"Ah, yes, the unusual ray of sunshine." Lucky rolled his eyes and divided the stack into two then began checking them over.

"Hmmm," Sam took the hint and attacked her own files with a fervor. If the rest of the day were uneventful she could finish this task, run to lunch at Kelly's with Nikolas, and surprise Kristina and Molly with ice cream after school. She smiled at the thought of the two girls whose pictures sat proudly on her desk.

She remembered the first time she actually got to call them her sisters, three days after she'd woken up in the hospital, the day after Jason left her. Sam sighed swallowing a hard lump. She had wanted to forget the six month old debacle. Jason had left her for some ungodly reason and she had a new family to consider.

She hurried through the rest of her paperwork, filing everything by dates and names then piled them high on her desk when she was done she looked up to see Lucky staring at her quizzically.

"Are you okay?"

Sam looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Uh yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well, Sam, you just seem hurried, and your hands are bleeding."

Sam looked down at her hands riddled with paper cuts and quickly folded them in her lap. " Damn, um actually I was hurrying."

Lucky looked at her expectantly. Sam rolled her eyes. Lucky was apart of that new family as well. As Nikolas' brother he kind of came with the package.

"I'm meeting your brother for lunch he said he had some Cassadine stuff to go over and I have to drop stuff off at the Courthouse by twelve and I didn't want to be late."

Lucky raised his eyebrows indicating he was quite sure she wasn't telling the entire truth. He knew about the shooting and Jason's leaving her but she hadn't led him to believe that she was still hurt. In fact they'd both been going through the same thing at the same time with Liz leaving him shortly before the auction. He was there for her, as was Nikolas, Alexis, and occasionally Lulu who came with the package deal also. She was also there for him as a very capable drinking buddy. Lucky had actually managed to teach her to hold her liquor something she was quite happy about.

Lucky was about to answer when his phone rang and she waved that she had to go to the bathroom to wash her hands.

Once the blood was cleared from her hands and she was sure the cuts weren't at all deep Sam looked at herself in the mirror, her hair had grown longer, and she left it in long curls rather than the usual straight mess she used to wear. She noted she was thinner than before mostly because she accompanied Lucky to the gym at least twice a week. He had joked once that he could bounce a quarter off her stomach. She took it as a good thing.

She had considered some drastic change after she got out of the hospital but couldn't bring herself to do anything. Somehow she had reconciled that nothing could fix the pain she felt. Nothing but time and a lot of family support both things she had in abundance. Lately she'd had to keep her pain to herself as it seemed that everyone believed she was over everything that happened. She let them go on with their belief that she was over it sure that this was some step in the process she had to overcome. As the days grew longer she kept thinking of more things that would make her forget the life she once had. It always worked for a little while until one snippet of a shared memory would cloud her mind and bring it all rushing back. She sniffed then thumbed at the tears that began to pool in her eyes.

This was not how she wanted to live. Panting after a man who obviously didn't want her even after all that they'd been through was a lie to herself and she knew it. Most of the time it wasn't just about Jason, it was his lifestyle which wasn't that different from the life Sam used to live with her adoptive father. Nikolas mused if the only reason Sam was somewhat content to work in the police station was that there were guns around. She only silently agreed with him. On some level Sam knew something was missing in her life that wasn't exactly Jason's arms or the penthouse where they lived their lives.

She took a deep breath and dapped at her eyeliner any hint of tears would surely be detected by Lucky and she knew she didn't want to deal with that just yet. Her "cousin" had become quite sardonic since Elizabeth left him and often forced her to see the horrible truth staring her right in the face, whether it was an outfit he considered hideous or a particular action she knew was wrong he called her on it.

Checking her appearance one more time she exited the bathroom thinking everything was none the unusual until she checked her watch and realized it was eleven thirty. Her mother should have been somewhere in the station screeching that she hadn't taken the papers to the courthouse yet. She absently smoothed the black slacks she had on and shrugged thinking that then again Alexis was known to lose herself in her work. Perhaps today was a lucky one. As she rounded the corner to the main area the first thing she noticed was that Lucky was crouched beneath his desk gun in hand. She immediately ducked down and flattened herself against the wall. Beside her was a large filing cabinet that she inched closer to. She peered around the side watching as a police officer was being held at gunpoint by a thin shifty looking male. Sam could hear Mac negotiating with him.

"This isn't helping your case, Aaron!" Mac tried to move closer to the shifty criminal and the officer whom Sam recognized as Detective Dan Evans. Evans looked too shades paler than usual his eyes wide and pleading with Mac to do something. Sam glanced at Lucky who she assumed had yet to reveal himself but was at a disadvantaged point. Aaron was a skinny thing but held his gun firmly in his left hand his right arm was wrapped around Detective Evans' neck. He pressed the gun into Evans' side. Sam thought that he must have been pushing harder with each minute because Evans kept jumping at odd moments of time.

Lucky could have waited until Aaron passed him and shot but unfortunately Evans was on Lucky's side. His shot would have to be very good or else Evans would be hit. Sam watched him until he caught her gaze and she jumped into action. She motioned to him to slide the gun to her, the distance wasn't that far and he knew from their experience at the gun cages, Sam was damn good shot.

Lucky hesitated; they had a small window of time. Mac had Aaron's attention and Sam argued without words. Aaron was close to Lucky's desk and Lucky knew he had no chance of shooting him without hitting Evans. At least, he couldn't shoot him at the angle he was at. He leaned forward on his hands and knees, crawling toward the edge of his desk. Sam was diagonal from him. She leaned as far forward as she dared without being seen. Lucky shot the gun across the floor and it slid easily into Sam's open hand. The moment her hand closed over it she felt a familiar tightening in her stomach. She smiled to herself. It felt too good.

Sam waited patiently for Aaron to get closer to Lucky's desk, aiming for his knee cap. Sam began to pull the trigger but stopped short at the criminal's cold voice.

"Well, look what I've got here. A cop trembling behind his desk. Does real good for my ego."

Lucky glanced at Sam when he raised his hands and climbed to his feet at the last instant he winked and Sam's gun went off. Aaron howled and threw Evans to the ground stumbling in Sam's direction. Sam stepped out from her space gun trained on him, aimed at his chest area. As she did so he held his gun on her a cruel smile on his face.

"This is the best the PCPD has? Some woman hiding behind a cabinet? Damn, I knew things were bad but Jesus Christ!"

"Shut up," Sam ordered easing closer to him hoping to back him up to the open area where anyone could grab him or even better shoot him. Ten to one she could pop him right here but with his gun in her face she didn't want to go down with him. She was after all still rusty even after the few sessions she'd had with Lucky. Could she aim and shoot? Better than half of the PCPD but to do it faster than someone who wanted to shoot her? Her confidence wavered.

"Hey," he smiled lecherously at her. "I know you. Took me a little bit since you haven't been in the news lately."

"I said shut up," Sam barked at him. She kept moving but he stopped and laughed.

"Hey…I should listen to you right? Wouldn't want that boyfriend of yours coming after me would I?"

Sam's jaw clenched.

"Oh wait, I forgot…not yours anymore. Word around town is that he's shacked up with that pretty nurse of his…kills anyone that looks at her."

A rush of pain caught Sam where she didn't need it to. She took deep breaths to keep calm but the ache of Aaron's words proved she was still raw and her heart still broken enough to knock her off balance. She stood frozen as he moved closer to her and could see Lucky over his shoulder shaking his head in disbelief, fear, and what Sam knew was his own measure of hurt. He knew what the man meant by pretty nurse. The gun was out of Sam's hand before she knew it and her mind raced back to the present.

She didn't have the gun. Aaron had two weapons in his hand and she needed to do something. Adrenaline rushed back through her body and she relaxed her muscles. She had fought her way out of situations that were worse before with little more than a bruise or a scratch. Today had to be no different. Today she had to take paper to the courthouse then have lunch with her cousin. Then she had to come back to work and make sarcastic banter with Lucky. After that she had to pick up her sisters from school and daycare and take them home. Sam turned to her side and elbowed Aaron in his gut the sound of gunfire blocking out Lucky's shouts. In an instant she drove the same elbow upward to his chin then brought her fist to his right cheek. She grabbed his left arm and twisted until he released Lucky's gun then slammed her right forearm into the back of his head and brought him down. Her knees bore down on his back pushing him further into the hard floor.

He had the other gun in his hand and with one of her hands holding his arm behind his back and her forearm grinding his neck in the linoleum she had to readjust to jam her foot into his hand. She was breathing hard and even though she hadn't had to fight anyone like this in a while she felt too good to care that Lucky was next to her now fighting to get a pair of handcuffs on him. It was like coming home. It was much different than seeing her sisters and her mother and feeling a sense of family between the four of them. She couldn't help but revel in the hum of her body until her mother arrived and pulled her into her arms dulling it but not ridding her of it altogether.

"Sam are you alright?" Alexis whispered stroking her hair. Sam stepped back and nodded. Her mother retained a tight grip on her hand.

Everyone around her gave her congratulations for saving the day. But Sam was already past it thinking instead about how fantastic it felt to bust the guy and take him down. It was something she had been trying to hide since she had entered (relatively albeit) into her mother's world. She put on a smile that only Lucky knew was hollow and when everyone returned to their spaces Sam looked at her cousin returning from locking up the troublesome criminal then sank into a swivel chair.

Everything drifted back to normal and within an hour statements were taken and the blood from Aaron's knee had been cleaned from the floor. Sam thought back and could only think of what she could do to get that feeling back again.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you guys for the reviews! I really appreciate them and hope that you enjoy the next installment of the story. I'm glad you guys like it!

Samantha McCall mused over her thoughts as she walked along the docks. She had begged off from her duties this afternoon to have some time alone. Thankfully Alexis didn't mind and set Viola to get the girls from school. That had been hours ago, three to be exact. She just wasn't ready to go home and felt in someway that she didn't fit there. She had assumed it was what Alexis wanted all of her daughters respectable and nicely placed around the dinner table every night, the very picture of independence being herself and Sam.

It was okay; Sam had thought and figured that if it pleased her mother, then to hell with it. She didn't really have any outstanding plans with her life and she did have a new family to invest herself in. As Sam did so, she found herself easing into a shell and closing off a part of herself that was better left to rumors. The rumors followed her wherever she went but mostly ceased when Alexis entered the room behind her. They were always about her life with Jason or baby Lila. Despite her new role in Port Charles people still saw her as only two things. Two things that made her cringe and think of her life before Jason when she was on her own. She smiled thinking of the time she spent on her salvage boat the only thing that had been hers. Even in her mothers house she couldn't find that independence and often thought that it was what bugged her about living there. Today proved much different.

Sam checked her watch and realized that if she didn't hurry she'd be late for dinner. As she left a group of teenagers crossed her path. They didn't notice her, mostly because she was leaving and they were having some sort of an altercation. Sam starred at them noticing a hooded girl with blonde hair being harassed by the group of mostly boys.

Lulu Spencer turned around unexpectedly on the boys shouting for them to leave her alone. The trouble was Lulu had run out of dock to avoid them on and they had her cornered.

"Do you know who I am?" Lulu tried another approach. "Better yet do you know who my father and brothers are?"

"Oh please," a blonde boy, much taller than Lulu and Sam for that matter walked towards her backing her into the brick wall of Warehouse 114. Sam saw her take a deep breath.

"Do you know you know who my father is? I'm pretty sure yours is lacking compared to him."

Lulu retained some of her spunk and shot back. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Hey!" Sam decided it was her time to act and rushed over pushing her way through the blonde boy's entourage knocking at least one off of the pier as she went. Grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt she yanked him back and stood protectively in front of Lulu.

"You wanna play who has the more powerful family?" She challenged with a dark smile on her face her hands clenching and unclenching by her side. "The name is Samantha McCall actually Davis-Cassadine before the end of this year. You see my mother is Alexis Davis, you know the District Attorney. My cousin is Nikolas Cassadine and if you hadn't heard out us I've got two words for you Helena Cassadine the most evil woman walking the face of this earth."

The blonde boy continued to blink at her and she could tell his head was already spinning. "You see Lulu and I are family," Sam said jerking her thumb in Lulu's direction, "and to make it short I will cut you and throw you off of this pier before you or any of your friends ever get to lay a hand on her. So the best thing for you boys to do is to turn around and forget you ever saw us."

Haughtily the boy leaned close to Sam's face Sam could feel the fear radiating off of him. Had he not been with his friends she had a funny feeling he would have ran. This made it all the sweeter when she asked him, "then why are you shaking in your boots?"

His eyes widened and he brought his hand up to strike her in the face. Sam grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back dropping her purse to the ground and flicking the knife that was once inside it out. She held the blade to his throat. His friends did nothing to stop her.

"Say it boy," Sam's voice came to a dangerous level when she whispered in his ear. "Say you're scared out of your mind."

"I--

"Say it!"

"I'm-I'm scared out of my mind!"

"If you see Lulu on street or anywhere for that matter, you walk the other way are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

Sam scoffed and removed the knife then pushed him into the water. "You just had to say ma'am."

His friends made a move towards her and she held out her knife and looked from them to the water. "You can join him."

They stopped and instead concentrated on helping him out of the water. Sam scooped up her purse from the ground and quickly walked away from the pier with Lulu hot on her trails. Her breath was coming in rapid huffs and she couldn't think straight. Lulu jabbered on about how cool what she'd just done was and Sam like she had been before was way past it. She couldn't stop thinking about what was wrong with her. Just because she busted some criminal in the police station didn't mean that she could hold a knife on some kid whom she didn't know anything about. For all she knew he could have been some governor's son or some sixteen year old trying to get his kicks in. She didn't have to attack him and shouldn't have. When she tried to express this to Lulu she was met with a quick pshaw and a thank you she felt she didn't deserve. Lulu said goodbye and rushed to the back to get ready for work and Sam sat down at one of the tables. She definitely couldn't go home now. Her frazzled nerves would give Alexis reason to panic.

She ordered a cup of tea from Lulu. When it arrived she became frustrated with the sugar packets finding it hard to open one. Combined with her confusing day and her short fuse Sam blew it knocking the container that held the packets on the floor just as the door to Kelly's swung open.

"Hey Jason!" Mike's voice splashed over Sam like a glass of ice water. Lulu who had rushed to help pick up the packets looked over at Sam then at Jason who entered with Elizabeth Webber and her son Cameron. Sam could feel the hate Lulu sent in a single look in their direction. She refilled the container of sugar packets and patted Sam on the shoulder before brushing past the couple to get to the back. Sam heard Elizabeth say hello and knew Lulu didn't answer her.

"I wonder if she'll ever get over it," Liz mused loud enough for Sam to hear. Sam ground her teeth praying she had it within herself to not snap off at that moment but was reprieved by Lucky entering. The moment he filled the doorway Sam was tossing a five dollar bill on the table and tackling him out of the door.

"Whoa whoa!" Lucky shouted as Sam yanked him away from the diner.

"Sorry," Sam said dropping his arm.

"You wanna talk about it?" Lucky asked and Sam wasn't quite sure if he'd seen his ex-wife or not but was pretty sure by his demeanor and uncharacteristically (at least these days) light heartedness he hadn't.

"I don't know," Sam shoved her hands into the pockets of her slacks.

"Well, either you do or you don't and it looks like you do," Lucky said surveying her tense stance and shifty eyes. "How about over a beer. We could call Nikolas and watch how fast he drops."

Sam rolled her eyes at the on going joke. Lucky loved to tease his brother about his lack of skill when it came to drinking. He could take a few beers and pass out right on the bar claiming that wine was his love not liquor. Sam herself had come a long way but was still just in front of Nikolas in that department.

"No, let's leave Nik alone tonight. I think he and Emily have a date anyway, at least that's what he said at lunch today."

"At least one of us has someone," Lucky muttered as they trekked to his car.

No more than thirty minutes later Sam leaned her head on the counter of Coleman's bar. Lucky raised his eyebrows as his cousin sat up to take another shot of tequila. She'd already phoned home to inform Alexis that she needed to talk to Lucky. She decided to make good on her words when Lucky asked what was bugging her.

She told him what happened to Lulu earlier and recounted the events in the police station Lucky let out a low whistle and dropped his chin on his piled fists looking at Sam out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, at least he deserved it."

"That's it?" Sam rolled her eyes and jabbed him in the side.

"Well, Lulu is my sister and I am traveling the highway to being intoxicated," Sam held back when Coleman approached her with another shot.

"I just snapped Lucky. I mean I don't even know who the kid was and I pulled a damn knife on him. And today in the police station…"

"I'm sorry I don't even see how you can try and make any of that…wrong…"

"Lucky be serious!"

"Okay, so perhaps you shouldn't have gone after the kid the way you did. You're a civilian and if he could possibly charge you although there weren't any witnesses except for his friends, you, and Lulu. But I say to hell with it. You did a good thing and no one would have been there to help my sister if you hadn't. If case you haven't noticed while coming to work for the last six months, we're a tad bit shorthanded when it comes to officers."

Sam leaned on the bar peering into Lucky's face in utter disbelief, "Are you saying that I," she tapped her own forehead, "should become a cop?"

"I'm saying you should think about it," Lucky corrected.

"I think you're crazy."

"Crazy's good sometimes, you taught me that," Lucky said taking the new bottle of beer Coleman slid him and took a swig.

"Hmm don't listen to me," Sam sighed. "I'm just that stupid girl who fell in love with a stupid criminal, risked everything and got burned."

"You're not stupid," Lucky muttered and Sam sighed. Silence fell between them until Lucky turned on the barstool to face her.

"Listen, in two weeks the PCPD's police academy is reopening to new applicants to the force. I think you can make it."

"You're serious about this?"

"Am I ever not serious when I'm drunk?" Lucky joked. Sam rolled her eyes.

Sam laughed but her interest was piqued. Still she was unsure.

"You've been telling me for the past few weeks that you feel that something's missing in your life and you keep letting everything build up. I think today you found your outlet. Being a cop could help you continue that."

"I don't think a violent need for an outlet constitutes wanting to be cop, Lucky."

"I think having something to prove does." Lucky said with a wry smile.

Sam couldn't help but follow suit. "Family…gets you every time."

"Of course, we're here to drive each other crazy and push each other in the right direction."

Sam rolled her eyes and got up from her stool moving to help Lucky up. "C'mon, let's get some bread into our systems."

"Can't have you coming home drunk," Lucky joked. "Alexis would flip."

"Flip indeed."


	3. Arrested Development

A/N: Sorry, for the long wait. My laptop has been broken for a few months and I just got it fixed. I hope you enjoy the story as I continue to write it! Thanks for your patience! I also apologize/warn for the length of this chapter next time might be just as long or shorter depending on the content and for those who were wanting more interaction with the Cassadines...Stay tuned Manical laughter.

Sam breathed deep and braced herself for her last set of crunches. She leaned forward on the bench she lie atop and tightened her muscles when she came back up. Lucky held onto her calves to keep her balanced on the bench and counted with her when she continued he work out. She leaned forward again, strands of hair falling from the once tight bun she'd concocted before she left work. Eventually, the loose strands stuck to her flushed face and she tried not to concentrate on that small inconvenience.

"Fourty Four," Sam and Lucky said in unison.

"One more," Lucky encouraged. His voice reverberated in Sam's head. She'd already lost herself in the feel of the contraction and release of her muscles. She liked to know she could push herself further and she did pulling off ten more crunches before leaning on the bench and stretching her arms in front of her. She heard Lucky cough and felt his hands release her legs. She pushed herself up and let her legs straddle either side of the bench. She found Lucky crouched in front of her off to the side picking up their water bottles. He handed her one then rocked back on his heels and sitting down.

"Is it crazy that I'm actually starting to find going to the gym fun?"

"Not really," Lucky answered then looked up at her. "There are worse things."

Sam accepted that as an answer then asked. "So, it's Friday…how's my progress?"

Lucky feigned innocence, "What progress?"

"Ass."

"My best asset or so I've been told."

Sam snorted derisively. "I dunno it's kind of lumpy."

Lucky pressed an open palm to his chest and answered her with wide eyes. "I don't know how I'll go on!"

"You'll go on by telling me how I'm doing. Do you think I'll make it?"

"Seriously?"

"Always."

"Yeah right," Lucky replied then sighed. "I think you'll do fine. You'll get through the physical test just fine—"

"…and?" Sam's eye brows rose.

"What?"

"There wasn't a period at the end of your sentence."

"Grammar Patrol?"

"Your remark was left open ended so I figured I'd ask," Sam replied and Lucky shrugged it off.

"It's nothing. I'm just being paranoid."

"Well knowing that you're paranoid is making me paranoid so what's up?"

"Don't worry about it it'll only hurt your," Lucky used air quotations, "progress."

Sam gave him a dirty look then held her hands up in surrender. Lucky would let her know when he wanted to. She looked at the wall clock and realized they only had thirty minutes to get back to the station.

"Are we done?"

"Yep," Lucky said and stood up and groaned. "I have to patrol when I get back."

"Oh you love it and you know it," Sam said and Lucky laughed aloud.

"Am I that easily read?" He asked then turned to walk to the

"Sometimes," Sam joked to his back. She turned to gather her things, her towel and her bottle when two of Port Charles' most eligible bachelors caught her eye. Patrick Drake and Peter Marquez stood taking an apparent break, checking out the ladies in the gym.

To the right a man walked from the weight room area toweling his forehead entered her line of vision. He swung the towel over his shoulder, took a cup from the nearest water cooler, and filled the cup. Sam watched as he drank and surveyed the open gym his eyes resting a few minutes at a time on some pretty women doing aerobics to the far left. His gaze stopped on the two bachelors and brightened. He gulped the last of his water and discarded the cup in a waste bin. Sam watched with curiosity as he moved stealthily towards the two who had just turned their backs to him, surveying the aerobics class. He snuck up on Peter grasping him in a headlock. Peter yelped and the man grabbed the bottle of water Peter was drinking from and poured the contents all over his head. Patrick began laughing while Peter struggled to be released.

"When the hell did you get in town?" Laughter muffled Peter's question. He clasped hands with the new guy then hugged him. He introduced him to Patrick who eventually smiled and invited him to join them for lunch. Sam was intrigued, not because he was apparently Peter's friend but because when he finally did turn in her direction, she felt slightly lightheaded.

She noticed a woman exit a door behind them, gym bag in hand. She slipped between the three men and sauntered towards the front desk. Sam remembered the Women's locker room and showers was behind them. She didn't doubt that they were standing there on purpose. The problem was that she had to go past them to get to her hot shower. The thought wasn't that enticing. Sure, they were all fine men to look at but Patrick was dating Robin Scorpio, Peter was quite creepy, and the other guy…well he did have a gorgeous smile.

She rolled her shoulders and walked steadily towards the group, careful to go around them instead of through them to get the shoulders. As she placed her hand on the door she heard their conversation stop and just knew one if not all three were looking at her. She turned out of curiosity hoping it wasn't Peter.

She'd met him on a couple of occasions when she had to pick up Lulu from some lecture he'd give on campus per Nikolas' request. She wasn't sure what his first impression of her was, but she knew she didn't want much to do with him the moment she shook his hand.

A slow smile formed when she locked eyes with the stranger who couldn't seem to speak to her. Peter stepped in, his creepiness following closely behind.

"Samantha McCall meet Cruz Rodriguez," Peter said leaning closer to Sam. Sam took a wary step to the side offering her hand in greeting. Cruz's larger hand closed around hers firmly squeezing. She noted his hands weren't as soft as Peter's or as delicate as Patrick's.

"Detective Rodriguez," he corrected and Sam nodded.

"Which station?"

"I just transferred in to the PCPD they've already got me a partner and everything," Cruz said then smiled toothily at her. His eyes hadn't left hers from the moment she'd turned around. She removed her hand from his letting her arms hang by her sides and stepped back.

"So how do you know Peter?"

"I went to school with him all the way up through college."

Sam nodded catching something else behind his eyes. Something a little bit more dangerous than she expected. He looked at her as if she'd seen him before and Sam was beginning to wonder if it were true. A shell of false pretenses replaced his warm smile and Sam had definitely seen that look before. Usually she glanced at it from across a cold metal table in an interrogation room. It wasn't pleasant and it didn't hold much promise. She quickly excused herself and continued into the showers where she found her locker and then leaned against it. She thought about what Lucky told her. He was very much in the right. A lot of attention would be shed her way once it was public ally known that she was going out for the academy.

Speaking of shit hitting the fan she heard the buzz of her cell phone inside of her locker jumping against the metal covering. She quickly undid the lock and answering it not bothering to check the name.

"Sam?"

"M-Alexis?"

Sam bit her lip at the slip. She and Alexis despite the short-lived hostage crisis hadn't exactly been getting along lately. Sam had a feeling she was sensing something was up. She'd been up the last few times Sam had come home late with tea in her hands on the couch. Each time it had happened became stranger than the first occurrence.

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the gym with Lucky?"

"Why?"

"Just trying to get in shape," Sam used the old excuse still not satisfied with the half lie.

"Well you need to get back to the police station, now," Alexis declared in a tone of voice she reserved for the courtroom when grilling unsavory witnesses out for their own personal gain.

"Can I ask why?"

Alexis sighed. "Apparently you're being charged with assault. I promised Mac that I could get you to come in peacefully so he wouldn't have to publicly arrest you."

"Arrest me for what? I haven't done anything," Sam tried to keep her voice down remembering where she was.

"Harassing a group of boys on the docks? Threatening to kill them and holding them at knife point? Does that sound familiar? Sam I don't know what you were thinking. You were doing so well and now…"

Her voice trailed off in disappointment. Sam never imagined that she'd actually feel her heart constrict at the sound then resume pounding at an even faster speed. She didn't even try to explain, there was no explaining to Alexis. Black and white was as much of an explanation needed for her to condemn. She'd seen it happen. Sam leaned on the lockers fingering the straps on her purse, which held at least twenty four thousand dollars in cash, a gift from Nikolas she refused to spend on the principle that she hadn't wanted the money anyway. She could run, she could get out of the country and go somewhere new.

The con-woman inside her screamed to throw on some clothes and call a cab to the airport but her muscles wouldn't move, her feet stayed planted, and her heart remained heavy. Kristina would be so confused if she saw her sisters face plastered across the papers as a fugitive. She didn't deserve that. Moreover, neither did Alexis, Sam grudgingly admitted to herself.

"How much time do I have?"

"You have a half hour to get back here or Mac will send officers out to look for you."

Sam sighed heavily and grabbed her purse. She slammed the door to her locker shut and locked it.

"I'll be there in ten minutes let me tell Lucky what's going on," Sam said and Alexis sounded relieved.

"I'll see you at the station; I'm going to represent you."

"It's a conflict of interest."

"Damn right it is but then again what kind of Mother would I be if I didn't get you the best defense possible."

Sam almost smiled.

"Good bye, Mother."

Alexis paused.

"I'll see you Sam."

Sam flipped the phone shut and exited the locker room scanning the open gym for Lucky. She didn't see him and assumed he was still in the shower. She took a few steps from the door towards the front desk to see if he could be paged and suddenly her face met the soft mats spread across the floor.

She let out a scream at the attack, the feeling of her arms being yanked behind her back not being too pleasant. She grunted when a heavy weight kept her pinned to the ground even as she struggled to get on her side, rocking one way then the other. Cuffs encircled her wrists and Sam began bucking as hard as she could.

"Samantha McCall you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read you."

"I understand but I was told--"

"Ma'am I suggest you stay quiet until you are in the presence of your attorney."

Sam was pulled up from the floor she turned her head meeting the cool eyes of one Det. Cruz Rodriguez. Sam scoffed.

"This is not the way to get a date."

The right corner of his mouth twitched a little but his expression remained grim. Sam wondered if his was his version of a game face. He shoved a little getting her to move forward towards the door. Sam shuffled along her legs feeling weak. Her face burned with embarrassment. It seemed everyone in the gym stopped to stare at her shaking their heads in disapproval or disgust. Knowing looks passed between a few as if they knew more about her than what flashed across the television screens not too long ago. They didn't know anything and Sam wanted to scream at them. Instead, she silently harbored it along with her growing concern as to why she was suddenly being arrested after being given a warning. Unless Alexis…she wouldn't.

Sam couldn't count out the thought.

"Hey!" Lucky's voice was a bright beacon of hope. He caught up to them planting himself between Sam and the door arms firmly across his chest.

"Excuse me I'm Officer Spencer, what the hell is going on here?"

"I'm bringing this woman in on assault charges. Officer Spencer, huh?"

Cruz offered his hand briefly to Lucky. "Detective Rodriguez, your new partner."

Lucky glared at him in disbelief. "You're not taking her in."

"I've got orders. I'm sure you know what those are," Cruz ribbed him. "Move aside."

"You must not be capable of--"

"Lucky don't worry. I'll be fine."

"I'm coming to the police station."

Sam smiled in appreciation. Lucky stepped aside and Cruz opened the door and pulled Sam outside. Lucky followed.

"I'll call Alexis," he called after her. Sam shook her head.

"Don't bother!"

Lucky looked perplexed but nonetheless hurried back inside to get his things and his keys. Sam huffed as Cruz pushed her head down to accommodate the police car Cruz shoved her into. She slid easily across the seat and watched from the window as Lucky raced to his car. Cruz got in the front and looked back at her a wide grin on his face.

"Now doesn't this look familiar?"

Sam couldn't breathe for more than one moment at a time. She stared at Cruz's dark face, his eyes seemed so angry. She remembered seeing eyes like that before but that it was too long ago. She thought back to a period of time when she ran from her adopted father and went out on her own. She'd wound up as a girlfriend to a famed pimp in the area. He called her 'Delightful' and she was only his. It didn't last long. He was arrested on drug charges and she happened to be there with him. She hadn't hooked for him but no one took that into account. The charges were on her record and she had no money for bail. It was a bad night for her. A really bad night. She could recall slick roads and thunder slashing across the sky, a drunken police officer with wandering hands. It was a blur. She hadn't been drunk that night but it was a time she didn't like to think about. Pride hadn't been too high on her list of priorities. It was about survival. She kept trying to tell herself that she was a different girl back then.

Cruz's cold eyes made that small bit of comfort a lie.

Once again, the thought of trying to escape crept into her mind but they were already at the station. There weren't throngs of journalists at the door. Only one man leaned beside the entrance, pen and paper in hand. He snapped on a piece of gum and tipped the blue and white baseball cap he wore above his forehead. He smiled at the appearance of the car but didn't push away from the wall. Cruz opened Sam's door and pulled her out by the arm. If anyone asked, Sam would swear that he yanked and show the evidence on her arm. His grip was inescapable. Each step towards the door reaffirmed it. When they reached the ominous man at the front he only turned and looked at her. His lips pulled back to reveal glittering teeth. Sam imagined them sharpened.

"Nice day, eh?"

Sam resisted the urge to say no. Real light faded to artificial fluorescent. Sam for an instant thought she was going back to work. They passed her desk and Lucky's and she could see herself sitting there rolling her eyes at something Lucky said. They passed by the Police Commissioner who thanked Det. Cruz for bringing her in then arrived at the interrogation room where everything felt cold and unforgiving. Her legs stuck to the metal chair. She was still sweaty from the gym. Cruz let go of her arm but it didn't feel like it. It was as if his grip had tightened.

"Now, you'll get yours."

Sam shuddered still unable to put her finger on his face, his voice, their past. She closed her eyes and leaned forward resting her forehead on her fists. The door opened and slammed shut after a large scuffle outside. Feeling unmotivated, Sam didn't bother to look up.

"Sam?" Lucky sat across from her his face red with frustration. His hair was mused and shirt half buttoned.

"You look like you got dressed in the dark."

"This is not a time to be sarcastic!" Lucky exclaimed. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Don't do that!"

"I've got nothing better to do. So, why not."

Lucky sighed unable to resist a light chuckle.

"So apparently, you're a criminal once again?"

"Only a little," Sam replied holding her fingertip and thumb an inch apart.

"Someone out there is trying to expand the charges to something that went down twelve years ago."

"Don't you mean to ask me something?"

"I don't have to, remember?" Lucky got down on her level. He leaned on his crossed arms and Sam smiled at the effort.

"How the hell do you know that crazy bastard?"

Sam laughed.

"This is serious." Lucky said but he was still smiling at her.

"He just transferred here from the L.A.P.D."

Sam sat back in her chair her mouth wide open.

"Oh shit, do you remember the time I ran away from my adoptive parents?"

"The time you hitchhiked to L.A.?"

"Yep?"

"With the pimp and the hooker charges and then the cop--"

"—who assaulted me in my cell. "

"He was alone when he picked us up, I mean he had back up and everything but even when we got back to the precinct he didn't have a partner with him."

"Weren't the charges dropped against you? The security camera footage of his attack cleared up any malicious intent. You defended yourself and he hit his head on the floor."

"Yeah but his partner should have been there to back him up," Sam turned in her chair, looking at the door behind her.

"Maybe he was away?"

"Maybe he's outside that door," Sam countered.

Lucky's eyes widened. "That's creepy."

"I killed his partner, he wasn't there. Five bucks says he finally stopped blaming himself and moved on to me?"

"That's crazy."

"You've seen crazier. We both have."

"Even if it is true…"

Sam shook her head rooted in her belief. She remembered watching the news at a bus station in Los Angeles his cold eyes blasting the loss of justice. She couldn't help but to think that the same cold eyes bore into the door behind her and into her back.

"Did you call Nikolas?"

"On my way here, yeah."

"Can you call him back and ask him to get me a lawyer?"

"For what? Alexis is defending you."

"Not anymore."

"—the hell? Sam she's your mom and the D.A. I'm sure she can handle this!"

"I'm sure she's the reason why I'm here."

"Huh?"

"She called me when I got to the locker room and asked where I was. I told her and she gave me a heads up on the situation. She said Mac was doing her a favor by allowing her to convince me to bring myself in in thirty minutes. No sooner do I hang up the phone and step outside to look for you Cruz tackles me to the ground and cuffs me. Tell me how that isn't a coincidence? And if it isn't then how come you're the first person to see me and not her."

"I kind of fought to get in here," Lucky, confessed and Sam shot him a brief smile. "Thanks but in true Alexis fashion she would have broken the door down or ripped it off it's hinges. She's eerily quiet."

"Things could have gone wrong…maybe it's not her fault?"

"Of course it's not her fault." Sam said sitting back in her chair in defeat.

"It's never her fault is it? If it's not her fault then how did Cruz know to arrest me when I came out of the locker room five minutes later?"

"Hey, I'm on your side, you know that," Lucky said, reaching across and grabbing her hands.

"Alright then. Please call Nikolas and ask him to get me proper representation."


	4. Facing the Music

A/N:I'm sorry it's taken this long to write and post a new chapter. I'm not sure if I'm too happy about this chapter but I felt I had to get it out in order for the story to progress. I hope you guys enjoy it and keep looking out for updates because there definately will be some!

The moment Lucky left the interrogation room he noticed Alexis arguing with Mac, a sight he rarely saw as the police commissioner usually at least listened to Alexis' demands. This time however it seemed he was standing up for one of his officers, a newly acquired one albeit, but an officer of the law nonetheless. While he appreciated Mac taking up for one of his own Lucky had to disagree on the topic.

"Either you let my daughter go or I will have this department under investigation faster than you can blink," Alexis hurled at him. Mac blinked on impulse and Alexis smirked then looked past him at Cruz who stood guard at the interrogation room door.

"And you…"

"Don't even start with me, lady," Cruz crossed his arms. "I didn't expect to find that murderous--"

"Hey—that's my friend you're talking about," Lucky snapped.

"Somehow I don't think putting this department under investigation will help the situation, after all your daughter was signed up as one of our voluntary recruits—emphasis on 'was'," Mac said leaving Alexis taken aback. Alexis recovered quickly but not fast enough.

"Oh, Sam didn't tell you? Well, maybe there have been a lot of things she hasn't been honest with you about namely current affairs!"

Alexis took a deep breath. "I don't need to know my daughter's present issues to know that she's innocent the police files prove her innocence in the case of the officer's death. And you if you don't back down on this you'll be lucky to be licking stamps and placing them on envelopes when I'm through with you, you'll never have a job in law enforcement again. So ask yourself Mac, is the word of some freshly arrived detective worth your job?"

Mac suddenly didn't look too sure.

Cruz's eyes widened at Mac's loss of confidence.

"We've still got her on assault on minors and not even you can get her out of that one," Cruz stepped up to the plate and Lucky resisted the urge to laugh. Alexis caught his eye and rolled hers.

"According to whom? Unless those boys want Lulu Spencer to press sexual harassment charges on them, I don't think so."

"Even so, there's still a process we must--"

"Oh, I'm sorry, what process is that? The process where you call me up and tell me I have thirty minutes to get my daughter to the police station to avoid public arrest and then have Detective dumb-luck arrest her anyway?"

Mac was at a loss for words.

"I'm not going to ask you again Mac, get my daughter out of those cuffs and out of that room!"

Mac looked sullen and utterly defeated. Lucky couldn't blame him. On a good day Alexis could run circles around anyone but today was a bad day and Alexis hadn't so much as run as she had stomped all over Mac with no mercy. He couldn't help but wonder if Mac had actually called Cruz to have him arrest her. He didn't think so. He'd known Mac for years and didn't believe he would go back on his word if it were given.

If Cruz went after Sam on his own accord he had penalties to pay for that. It wasn't exactly a wrongful arrest but there were stipulations involved that could earn him demerits depending on how bad Alexis wanted to push the issue. He watched the man take his medicine and disappear into the room just as Nikolas rushed into the war zone where Alexis and Mac still glared daggers at each other.

"Damn am I late?"

"Just a little but I'll bake you a cookie for trying," Lucky replied. Nikolas laughed.

"You bake? I think I'd rather eat sawmill."

Lucky tried to hide his taken offense but admitted he couldn't bake well. Laura had tried to teach him but he kept burning things. They said they'd keep it their secret. But that was until Lucky tried to bake something for Elizabeth once and it hadn't gone over very well. He wound up buying a cake from the store and pretending he baked it himself. He thought Liz knew but she made no mention of it. Lucky shook his head of the still too fond memories and tried to distance himself from them. He looked at Nikolas who was staring at him expectantly.

Nikolas waved his hand in front of his face.

"What's going on?" Nikolas asked, obviously annoyed that he had to repeat himself.

"Er, Alexis worked her mojo, mopped the floor with Mac and well, Cruz went to let her go."

"How long does it take to take off handcuffs?"

Sam had been staring at her hands since Lucky had left. At first she had been glad for the distraction, her fingers traced over remnants of scars on her hands, calluses from her work in the salvage business, the space stretching from one end of her left palm to the other where stitches still faintly showed if she looked hard enough. When she was done examining she glanced at the clock, something she had tried hard not to do since she'd been placed in the room over an hour ago. Her eyes immediately darted back to her hands and she began to think of the things she used them for, attempted cooking, writing, picking up Molly, tickling Kristina, killing a man. A voice in her mind told her that he deserved to die. Sam bit her lower lip at the memory of the night she spent in prison and the immediate moment when her instincts kicked in. When she closed her eyes at that moment she could even drum up the image of the man lying beside her, bleeding. She could feel how hard it was at the moment to open her mouth and scream. Her eyes pricked with tears and she shook her head refusing to cry over it. She hadn't thought about that night or that man in many years. She blinked away the salty tears and closed her eyes again banishing the images.

When she opened them again Cruz stared back at her from the doorway. Keys dangled from his hands. He stared at her in disgust. Sam sat up in her chair when he shut the door behind him then sat down across from her.

"Aren't you ever sick and tired of getting away with things?"

Sam opened her mouth to protest, to say that he didn't know anything about her or her life, to tell him that he was wrong. Her voice halted and she swallowed back a lump that had formed in her throat when he fixed her again with his gaze. This time he wasn't smirking, he wasn't disgusted, what she saw made her eyes slam shut to avoid the feeling that consumed her. When she opened them again she was still staring at a pair of brown orbs saddened by the sight of her, heavy with unresolved grief and loss, sick and tired. Sam sat back in her chair and glanced down at her hands again.

"You—You know what happened that night," she tried. "You saw the security cameras…"

"I never looked. I couldn't."

"Then how can you hold me responsible when you don't know yourself what _really_ happened in there?" Sam asked feeling sick to her stomach that her words were nothing more than a plea for him to not place the blame with her.

"Because no matter what happened in that cell; no matter who did what and why, he's dead. No amount of circumstances can change the fact that he died in that cell and you were the one that did it only to disappear and never be heard from again. Except of course to burn down your adoptive mother's home."

"I was acquitted--"

"As usual, Sam, you never face what you did. You killed that woman, and you killed my partner. Yet somehow you're not responsible, it's their fault, you had to kill them!"

Cruz rose from his seat and walked around the table. Sam couldn't find it within herself to look him in the eye so once again she stared at her hands remembering all that she did with them.

He stood beside her chair keys still jingling in his hands.

"I don't know how it's possible to look in the mirror with all that you did. But it looks like you get a pass again. Thanks to that district attorney mother of yours you won't have the pay the price again."

He reached for her hands and Sam drew back. Her heart hammered in her chest. She could feel Cruz's steely gaze up on her and she couldn't close her eyes without imagining the dead man in the cell. She killed him. There were no two ways that could change it differently. Suddenly she couldn't breathe correctly and tears began sliding involuntarily down her cheeks.

"Don't."

"You're free."

"I'm not going anywhere. You can tell that to everyone out there. I'm paying for my crimes."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Sam asked finally looking up at him measuring the uncertainty in his eyes. Cruz didn't look relieved or hurt only confused at the turn of events. He only nodded solemnly then walked to the door. With his hand on the knob he stopped.

"I've always wondered."

"What?"

"Why you never screamed for help. If he attacked you like the police report said, you could have screamed for help. There was a guard on the outside of the jail that night. He would have come and stopped him if you'd just screamed."

Sam took a shaky breath and kept her voice even. He had no clue.

"You're right again. If I had screamed some one probably would have come."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Why don't you ask yourself what kept me from screaming."

Cruz didn't answer her. He simply opened the door and left Sam staring after him.

When Cruz re-emerged from the room without Sam by his side Alexis stalked across the room.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"She doesn't want to be released."

"What did you say to her?" Lucky more accused then asked. Cruz looked him squarely in the eye and Lucky felt sick just looking at him. Whatever had happened Cruz didn't look like he'd gotten what he wanted out of it. It was strange but Lucky considered that Sam was still sitting in the interrogation room with cuffs on.

"She just decided to stay. She wouldn't let me uncuff her wrists."

"I'm going to go talk to her," Nikolas said and stepped off into the room.

"Listen buddy, I don't care what the hell happened in her past but she was proven innocent!"

"Not my problem. She decided to stay I can't go in there and uncuff her. "

"Then I will," Lucky snapped glaring at Cruz until the man had to look away.

Lucky glanced back at Alexis who nodded at him before he yanked open the door to the interrogation room and disappeared inside.

Mac left to answer a phone call telling Alexis that Sam couldn't leave without the necessary paperwork being filled out.

Cruz took a seat at Lucky's desk and placed his head in his hands.

This was what he'd wanted all these years. He wanted the woman who killed his partner to pay for what she did. He wanted to see her brought to justice and that was what he had thought when he heard the announcement over the police scanner in his car. He felt so sure when he brought her in and now he couldn't make heads or tail of it all. She had killed him. She did it. There was no question. And what did she mean by what could have kept her from screaming?

"Having second thoughts?" Alexis Davis asked him. He looked up to see that she hadn't moved from across the room. At least now she was the very picture of calm. The smooth features of her face rested so that he couldn't tell if she were angry or devastated with the fact that her daughter refused to leave police custody after all of her work to get her free. There were no remnants of the fury he experienced earlier. He realized this must be her poker face, the one she showed in court, the one she showed to people she didn't trust.

"I can't dismiss what she did Ms. Davis."

"I saw the tape, Detective Rodriguez."

"That fast? Nice use of the D.A.'s office and taxpayers dollars."

Alexis remained unmoved.

"I would move mountains for any of my children. When I found out Sam was mine it didn't make her any different."

"Nice to be yours I guess."

"I saw the tape," Alexis' voice traveled softly across the room.

"Yeah, so? I read the police report. Same difference."

"I beg to differ. It's not a stretch that a police station would omit information from a police report to cover for one of their own. He had a family. I doubt they wanted her to hear what he really did."

Cruz didn't want to entertain the idea.

"No jabbing remarks? No outburst?"

"Your daughter is a murderer, Ms. Davis. When are you going to own up to that."

Just then a cold look entered Alexis' eyes and she walked towards him.

"You had better hope that Mac has the foresight to change the fact that you and Lucky are partners. He and Sam have grown quite close and there's no telling what he'll do."

"Are you trying to threaten me?"

"Speaking of things you can't change. I can't change the blood that runs through my veins anymore than you can change the fact that sooner or later you're going to have to look at all the elements of your partner's death. Cassadines don't make idle threats."

When Lucky entered the room Sam and Nikolas were already arguing.

"So, why didn't you tell me? I could have had him watched or something, anything to prevent him from coming here!"

"He didn't know I was here anyway and besides I didn't want you to feel any different about me."

"What?"

"I did bad things Nikolas. And since you found out I was your cousin you've treated me differently than anyone else has. You treat me like I'm a lady, like I'm worth something--"

"Not that you don't!" Sam said looking at Lucky who closed his mouth.

"Sam, our whole family has done incredibly screwed up things, most of them to each other. I wouldn't have looked at you any differently than I do now. And you're still my friend and a part of my family."

"Well, I know that now and I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I'm not leaving. I have to pay for what I did."

Nikolas threw up his hands and Lucky patted him on the back. He walked around the side of the table and grabbed Sam's hands using his own keys to unlock the cuffs. Sam struggled for a moment before he twisted her arm a bit to get her to stop squirming.

"Ow, Dammit Lucky!"

"Sam, I can't let you do this."

"That hurt you ass."

"Can we please stay off the subject of my ass for five seconds please?"

"I'm so confused," Nikolas shook his head. Both Sam and Lucky looked at him and he shrugged.

"Alright lumpy butt present your case," Sam said. Lucky smirked at the remark but kept talking.

"Sam, I know you feel you have to pay for what you did but do you honestly think you'll feel better? I know you killed that man. He attacked you and you killed him but you can't hold yourself responsible for how Cruz feels. If he knew his partner at all he knew he was capable of what he did to you. You don't deserve to be drug through the mud over something that happened years ago, something you were aquitted for. You can't. And what about those you'll leave behind? What about your Mom and Kristina and Molly? Hell, what about us?"

"You know you're a really good speech giver."

Lucky rolled his eyes.

"Sam what will Kristina think when it's blasted all over the news that her big sister is in jail?"

"She doesn't know what they're saying," Sam was cracking and Lucky knew it. He moved in for the kill.

"She'll know it when you're not there."

Sam looked down and sighed heavily. "If I leave then I'm proving him right. I'm a criminal and I run away from the law. Besides, with all of this how can I join the force now? They'll never let me in."

"Sam you have to live with what you did. You have to live with whatever guilt you have rolling around inside you and if anyone can beat you up over it, I'd say it's yourself and you've been doing a damn good job. Don't let him stop you from doing what you need to do for yourself."

"And about the force, we'll handle that hurdle when we get there. You're ready for this I know it."

"You can't let him win Sam," Nikolas chimed in. "You've got to fight."

"And we'll fight for you. Me, Nikolas, Alexis--"

"Oh God…"

"Yeah, when I think about it Cruz probably heard Mac over the police scanner and came after you himself. That little issue will probably keep him in line for a while."

"And if it doesn't there are plenty of catacombs and unmarked places at Wyndemere where we can hide his body."

Again Sam and Lucky looked at him in disbelief.

"It's a called a joke and here's where you two should start to laugh."

"Gallows humor suits you Nikolas," Sam said and Nikolas beamed.

"So does this mean we won't have to drag you out of here kicking and screaming?"

"Yeah."

"Good, because I would have hated to drag you out of here kicking and screaming."

The ride home was a short one. For Sam it was short and unbearably quiet. Sam's eyes remained glued to the lines on the ground as they quickly dissolved into dirt and then the gravel of their driveway. When the car came to a stop Alexis finally looked over and Sam did the same. Alexis's eyes focused on Sam like they hadn't before. She marveled at that moment how small Sam looked to her and the amount of time they'd spent apart. Sam didn't look a thing like her until she looked in her eyes and saw what she had always felt she had within herself. The intense and often feral will to survive.

"Mommy!" Kristina shouted. She appeared in the doorway of the lake house with Viola by her side holding Molly in her arms. Sam got out of the car first leaving Alexis staring at where she had been. Alexis' eyes followed her up to the steps where she met Kristina and picked her up enveloping her in a big hug.

"Sam! Guess what I did today!"

Sam smiled at her and kissed her cheek.

"What did you do?"

"I climbed the monkey bars all by myself! No one helped me and I didn't fall down! I wasn't scared!"

Sam grinned at her and acted amazed at the feat. Alexis watched her twirl her sister around.

"I guess you'll have to show me sometime, big girl," Sam said. She turned her attention to Molly who gurgled happily oblivious to what anyone was saying. Sam was happy, Kristina was happy, and she giggled and reached out for her big sister. Sam leaned forward and let Molly grab at her face. Her tiny fingers gripped the skin at Sam's cheeks and Sam laughed.

Alexis couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. She got out of the car and left her briefcase inside deciding work could wait for the evening or at least until she got her girls off to sleep. She joined Sam on the porch taking Kristina from her.

"Did I hear correctly? Did my big girl do something amazing today?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, you'll have to tell me all about it while we eat dinner!"

"Can we eat pizza?"

"Oh, well…I'm sure we can get something ready…"

"Please?" Kristina begged and Alexis relented. She was tired and she didn't feel like cooking and today was supposed to be Viola's day off.

"Alright but just for tonight," Alexis conceded.

"Yay!"

"Alright purple or blue pajamas?" Sam looked down at Molly who sat up glancing between the two pairs of pajamas Sam held up. She looked confused for a moment then and gabbed at the blue ones.

"Blue it is," Sam said then proceeded to get the little girl dressed for bed. She zipped the outfit up to the chin then hoisted her up on her hip. "Time for bed."

Molly gurgled something sleepily into Sam's shoulder and she was quite sure she was drooling. With a sigh she began rubbing her back before putting her in her crib and tucking her in.

"Nighty night," Sam whispered and began backing out of the room. She had gotten rather good at backing out unnoticed. This time however the moment she started out the door Molly let out a scream that pierced her ears.

"Oi…" Sam murmured. Alexis appeared behind her easing past and picking Molly up from the crib. Sam quietly shut the door to block out the sound of Molly's cries just in case Kristina was already asleep.

"Shhh baby, Mommy's here," Alexis cooed. Molly's cries ceased but her eyes were still wide open. Alexis sat down in the rocking chair across from the crib. She hummed softly and Sam for a second wished she could have had the experience of being the little girl that she tucked in.

"Sam?"

Sam looked at her mother rushing before the older woman could say anything else.

"I misjudged you. I should have known that you would never have turned me in."

"Sam, it's not a stretch to believe it. I did give you up when you were born."

"You were just a kid."

"And so were you. Come here."

"Alexis—Mom, I should have told you about my past."

"I never asked you and I should have. All those years apart and I couldn't imagine—didn't want to imagine that you would end up as bad off as you did."

Sam stood by her mother. "No one held a gun to my head. I did what I did…"

"I saw the tape Sam," Alexis blurted out. Sam sank down then rocked back on her heels and leaned against the wall. Her stomach felt queasy. She didn't want to look at her mother. How her mother could look at her she didn't know. Sam waited for the disgust and the sickening insults she waited still for the disappointment. But they never came. She simply rose from her seat and walked to the other side of the room and laid Molly in her crib waiting until she was sound asleep to move away. She knelt in front of Sam and touched her face. And that's when Sam couldn't take it anymore. She jerked away from Alexis' grasp sick to her stomach that she had seen what happened and didn't care that her daughter was dirty and low.

"I know what happened. I know what he did and what you did to protect yourself," She brushed away the tears that had begun trailing down Sam's cheeks. "You did what you had to do."

"I--"

"You know what I said when I watched that tape?"

Sam shook her head in her hands.

"After I got over the shock and the anger of what had happened to you I thought 'My God, I have one brave strong daughter who doesn't give up without a fight'. And I saw myself there. I saw myself in you and I knew that it was a part of me inside you that made you survive. You're my daughter Sam, I could never turn my back on you again."

Alexis embraced her daughter stroking her hair and back to soothe her. When Sam's sobs had stopped and she sat back out of her mother's arms.

"God I must seem so silly," Sam said wiping at her damp face. Alexis smiled through her own set of tears. " A grown ass woman needing comfort from her mother."

"Nah, I don't think that ever gets old."

Sam smiled and folded her legs Indian style infront of her. Alexis did the same and Sam was quite sure that she hadn't done that in a while. Sam enjoyed the ease Alexis was showing, a far cry from the woman she once hated. But still there was so much for them to talk about. So much ground they hadn't covered as Mother and Daughter that Sam was sure they'd never get to.

"Mac told me you signed up as a voluntary recruit to the force."

Sam's eyebrows rose at the news that her mother was in on what she'd been keeping from her for a week straight.

"I am. I'm sorry about the desk job. It just isn't me."

"It's dangerous."

Sam groaned inwardly. "I know but somehow it just feels right. Besides if I get in I'll be getting to do some good for the community, maybe start atoning for my years as a criminal."

"Sam you know you have nothing to atone for."

Sam's expression darkened at the many things she had yet to tell her mother.

"Well, not that I know of anyway."

"Just promise me this won't be a big issue?"

Alexis seemed to struggle with the idea.

"At least until I find out if I've made it in. Then you can complain and worry all you want because I'll actually be in danger."

"Alright, alright, but I am proud of you for going after what you want."

Sam beamed at the approval and would have thanked her mother had it not been for a voice screaming at her in the back of her mind. Her eyes perked at the sound of the door downstairs quietly shutting.

"Did you hear that?"

"It's probably Viola, she probably left something behind, besides she's the only other person with a key to the hou--"

Sam's eyes widened in horror when she saw bright lights out of the corner of her eye. She screamed at Alexis to get down but it was of no use. The windows shattered in their panes and the house shook on its foundation. Kristina screamed for help from her room as another explosion roared through their home.

Disclaimer: Alexis and Sam's relationship was not harmed during the process of writing this chapter. Their house however might need some heavy repairs.


	5. Not a Moments Rest

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been sticking with this fic! I promise not to have another long hiatus! If at all possible I'd like to have another chapter ready for you guys by next week. I'm sorry it took so long to get the last one out but once again I had computer issues and such to deal with. Anywho I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter and I apologize if there are any mistakes. I tried to comb through and find as many as I could but some do escape the purge of the typos!

* * *

Sam called out to Alexis hoping for some kind of confirmation that she was all right. All she received in return was the fierce ringing in her ear and the sound of her sisters' screams. Smoke filled the room making it impossible to see two feet in front of her. 

"Sam?" Alexis' voice was water in the desert and Sam tried to follow the sound. Another explosion, this time downstairs, made everything around her shake. She put her hand on the nearest wall and worked around the room. The wood seemed warmest near the door. The smoke began to clear as Molly's wailing increased. Sam could see her mother over her crib wrapping a blanket around her.

"Mom!"

Alexis turned around relief flooding her features.

"Wait here I'm going to get Kristina! Stay down in case they start shooting!"

Alexis didn't have the time to question what made her eldest daughter think that someone was going to do any shooting. Another explosion rocked the house and she held Molly tight and got down on the floor.

Sam pushed Molly's door open. Her worst fears were confirmed when hot smoke made her eyes tear up and her throat close. She felt against the wall ignoring the heat the best she could. She concentrated on counting the doors; Kristina's was the second one down.

"One…two….shit!" Sam winced at the hot metal she had enclosed her hand around. She swore again but had no time to worry about her injury. More smoke escaped beneath the door and Sam sprang forward ramming her shoulder into the door.

"Damn it!"

"Sam is everything alright?" Alexis called from down the hallway.

"I'm working on it! Just keep down in case there's another explosion!"

Sam glared at the door.

"You can do this."

Sam backed up then kicked the door hard. She imagined she was at the gym practicing with Lucky one kick after another. Finally the wood broke and Sam threw her body into it knocking the door wide open. Smoke escaped and crawled along the hallway ceiling.

The room cleared a bit although not as much as Sam would have liked. The outline of her sister's body became visible beside the girl's bed.

Sam coughed and wheezed, pulling her shirt up too late to shield herself from the toxic smoke. Heat was all around her and Sam could only imagine what the rest of the house looked like. Her eyes were forced to close. To her relief she could hear Kristina coughing and whimpering. Sam flattened herself against the floor and crept along feeling against the carpet. Kristina's bed should have been no more than ten feet away from the door. She grasped the metal post of Kristina's bed and pushed herself along, kneeling to touch the bed in an attempt to find a hand or leg, anything. She found nothing and fear raced through her. She could hear Kristina somewhere in the room but where was a puzzle she had no time to fit together.

But she had to go on. Sam kept at it for a few more minutes, coming up short.

Warm air brushed across her face. She was against the window. This was impossible.

"Help! Mommy? Sam?"

Sam's ears pricked at the tiny sound. It sounded like it was right in front of her. Sam used her legs and elbows to push herself forward and came in contact with the closet door.

She rose to pull the thing open and was elated to touch a small leg.

"Kris—ugh—Kristina?"

"Mommy?"

"No it's Sam," Sam knelt and lifted the little girl into her arms. Kristina's arms tightened around her neck. Sam turned finding the room more heavily filled with smoke than before. Sam counted her steps, trying to remember how far it was to the door.

"Sam?"

"Hold on Kristina."

Sam made it to the door with little incident. She poked her head out and glanced down the hall where Alexis was still waiting in Molly's room.

"Alexis?" Sam called out. Her throat burned and Sam's nostrils flared.

There was no answer. Sam tried again and still heard nothing but the crackling of wood.

"Where's mommy?"

"I don't know but I'm sure she's alright."

Sam pushed down the cold fear that gripped her. Alexis would answer if she were there. Sam only hoped that she was already down the stairs and outside. The lake house had no neighbors that Sam had encountered since moving in. The next house was half a mile away and even then, would they see the smoke and flames through the trees? She didn't count on it. She didn't have her phone to call for help either.

"It's going to be okay," Sam murmured for both her sister and herself. "Everything will be alright."

Alexis had waited in Molly's room clutching the baby to her chest. Everything had been alright for her except for the long wait she had to endure to hear from her two daughters. Never in her life had she felt so alone. She could hear everything in her home being destroyed and had begun to wonder why someone would do this. Was it someone she had put in prison? She didn't know. The past few months her caseload had been so heavy she never saw the mahogany surface of her desk because it was littered with papers.

Her thoughts turned to Sam, someone from Jason's past? No one could believe that Sam was still affiliated? Could they? It had been months since she had any contact with Jason and his circle. Even working at the police station it was amazing that she barely saw him and when she did, Alexis knew from Sam's lips to her ears that there wasn't a word spoken between them.

Who? Who? Who? Alexis paused in her thoughts when heavy footsteps clomped upon the stairs. She shifted, getting behind Molly's door and pulling her legs up to her chest. Molly sat on her knees and Alexis prayed her daughter wouldn't go into another crying fit. She stoked her little back in small circles and closed her eyes. The door opened slightly. Alexis' held her breath.

"I don't see anyone in here," the voice of a man, with a distinctly crisp accent, broke the silence. His radio crackled in response. His footsteps covered the whole room and he came back to the door, obviously ready to give up. Alexis let herself breathe again thankful that they hadn't been caught. His footsteps passed the doorway and went down the hall. Alexis stood trying to think of what to do next. She stepped from behind the door then froze as a gun was pointed in her face.

"District Attorney Davis," the man said. Molly began crying. "You're coming with me."

* * *

Lucky Spencer was glad to be back at home. Today hadn't been as strenuous as most but the draining situation that was his new partner had him feeling beat. Mac had sent him out on another patrol and then to investigate a robbery later in the evening before his shift was done. He had to take Rodriguez with him and it hadn't been any different than getting a root canal. It was awkward, tense, and certainly not a co-operative afternoon into evening. 

Each time he made a remark or conclusion Rodriguez jumped down his throat, explaining to him why he was not only a bad cop but a stupid one at that. Lucky had considered too many times unholstering his gun and dropping a bullet in a place that he himself would wince at. Lucky dropped his holster in the nearest chair and glanced around the empty apartment.

It was too quiet around here without Liz and Cam though he'd become used to the silence. It didn't help that he kept finding remnants of their life together left behind in Elizabeth's haste to leave. Lucky pulled his phone from his pocket when it started ringing in his hand he frowned when the department's number flashed on the screen but answered nonetheless.

"Yeah?"

"Spencer?" Cruz's voice was unsure.

"What do you want Rodriguez, we're off duty and I can't imagine--"

"We got word from Stark Home Defense, D.A. Davis' home security system seems to be giving off a danger signal. They were concerned because the system informed them that there were several explosions."

Lucky was already up and slipping back into his holster. He grabbed his keys and headed out to his car.

"And so you called me out of concern?"

"No," Cruz replied dryly. "We're the only ones who aren't already out on some call."

"Great, I trust you know where the house is? Did you draw a map with your crayons?"

The line went dead the moment Lucky jammed his key into the ignition and started his car. He dialed Sam's cell number the moment he got out onto the road praying that she would answer and say that she, Alexis, and the girls were already outside and that they were alright.

"Hey…"

"Oh thank God," Lucky muttered.

"….this is Sam leave a message after the beep!"

"Oh hell," Lucky grumbled and tossed the phone into the passenger seat. He flicked on his siren and stomped on the gas pedal.

It occurred to him that Sam would have called him immediately if something happened, unless somehow she couldn't.

* * *

Sam made her way down the hallway and checked Molly's bedroom confirming her suspicions and hope that Alexis wasn't knocked out on the floor. She had to be outside. That was all there was to it. She was waiting for her and everything was going to be okay.

Kristina's tiny arms fastened tightly around Sam's neck but she didn't want to tell the girl that she could barely breathe. She was shaking and Sam knew she was twice as afraid as she was.

Sam's stomach knotted itself with each step she took. She couldn't hear anything except for the roar of the fire upstairs eating away at the wood. As she got closer to the bottom of the steps she could hear similar sounds. Her foot touched the fourth step and the living room became partially visible. Alexis sat on the couch cradling Molly in her arms. Sam began to smile but something in her eyes when she looked up turned Sam's hopes to ash.

A man stepped out from Sam's right, obviously hiding in the hallway waiting for her to come down. Sam clutched Kristina tightly placing her hand on the back of Kristina's head to insure that she wouldn't look up and see the man standing there with his automatic rifle pointed directly at them. A black mask covered his face.

"Finally," His voice was smooth and malice curled against his words.

Sam took a deep breath.

"What do you want?"

"Put her down."

Sam's eyes narrowed at the man and her grip tightened around her sister.

"Like hell I will," Sam replied biting back another comment. He was a large man, broad shouldered and more then a few inches taller than she. He certainly looked like he could do some damage but somehow his terrifying image was lost on Sam, mostly because of the mask. He couldn't show his face when he was about to kill them. Sam zeroed in on the weakness comforted that he had something to lose.

He chuckled at her response, the sound low and mischievous. He was enjoying her fear, her mother's fear. Sam supposed he was probably the type of person who liked holding a fly down and pulling off its wings with a pair of tweezers.

He moved forward and instinctively Sam backed up.

"You will if you want your sister to live a little longer."

"I'll kill two birds with one stone. You wanna call my bluff go ahead," he brought his shot gun level with Kristina's back and Sam broke letting the girl slip down out of her arms. The man reached out and yanked Kristina's arm then shoved her towards her mother. Kristina stumbled and fell on her way to the couch and Sam shoved him.

"You coward!"

He swung back around, intent on using the butt of his gun to knock her down. Sam ducked underneath his arms and grabbed the weapon and yanked back. He grunted and began to pull back just as Sam kicked him in his side. One of his hands released the gun to grab his side. The other hand held fast to the handle and squeezed the trigger sending a shot off just above Sam's head. Kristina screamed and Molly began crying again. Sam willed herself to keep going. She couldn't stop. Her mind churned out wild commands and her body followed them without hesitation. She kicked at his shin dropping him down to her height and struck him in the jaw with her free hand.

He squeezed the trigger again and again hoping in vain to get her. Sam punched him in the back of the head and felt his grip loosen on the weapon. She yanked back thinking that she'd finally gotten the upper hand not expecting him to barrel forward and knock her on her back. He sat on top of her pinning her down with his weight.

Dread filled Sam's mind at the familiar feeling. She thrashed from side to side striking out at him anyway she could. Her heart hammered full force in her chest. Sam couldn't breathe. It were as if smoke had begun to fill her lungs again. He grabbed both of her wrists and pinned her down. Alexis shouted angrily behind him. Sam could hear her but she couldn't open her eyes. The same helplessness swept over her body drenching her in overwhelming fear. He had her. She couldn't do anything. This was it. All of her running. This was what she deserved.

Memories clung to one another wrapping themselves up into a jarbled stream in her head.

He leaned over her. His hard voice brought her back to the present.

"I would have taken you outback but now I'm going to make them watch."

Click. Swish. Click.

The audible noise of a switchblade turned Sam's stomach. Suddenly everything was deathly quiet as Sam's head cleared. He had risen on his knees to come close enough to whisper in her ear. Sam saw the opening and took it kneeing him in the groin. Twice. He dropped his hand to the floor.

"Move," Sam told herself. She shoved upwards and scrambled from beneath him. Alexis was already up.

"We have to go," Sam scooped Kristina up in her arms and hurried to the door. She pulled the door open for Alexis and Molly to go through welcoming the fresh air that hit her face and filled her lungs. She could see down the road from there, a cop car riding in with a fire truck blaring its siren into the night.

Sam took a step forward, one hand steadying Kristina in her arms and the other ready to swing the door shut. Suddenly her leg wouldn't move behind her and she pitched forward pushing Kristina out of her arms so she wouldn't fall on top of the little girl.

Sam looked back to see what had gone wrong and saw the intruder on his knees again with a feral gleam in his eyes. Her eyes closed for a moment and she knew there was no other choice. Instead of fighting him sprung forward to where Kristina lay in the doorway, pushing her fully out of the door onto the porch to safety before letting herself be dragged back into the house.

"Now we'll finish this," he growled and Sam noticed what she hadn't before that his voice had an unusual accent. Shakily she stood to her feet, remembering the car out on the road. Someone was coming. Someone had to be. All she needed to do now was hold him off until they got here.

"I guess we will," she kept her voice smooth though no part of her was still at the moment. She couldn't stop shaking. "So, why don't we start off with what the hell it is you want."

"That should be obvious."

"Okay, so you want me dead, why?"

"So many reasons, dear."

"Why get my mother involved? I'm sure a guy like you knows more than a few ways to kill a girl."

Sam could see the gleam off of his smile even in the dark. The house creaked and withered around them, flames finding their way from every other part of the house to this one untouched room.

"Of course. I just happen to like blowing things up."

"You didn't answer why you had to go after my family. Whatever I've done in the past has nothing to do with them."

"Your family is the past. It's the whole reason why I'm here."

Sam frowned unsure of what he meant.

"Right, big guy, so what'd we do to you?"

Sam wasn't expecting the sudden lunge at her body but recovered quickly sidestepping. She kept moving, slowly in a circle then went on the offensive hoping to tire him or at least keep him busy. They exchanged a series of attacks and Sam found to her dismay he easily blocked her every move. It was frustrating. She knew she wasn't utterly fantastic at fighting. Sure she could get into a good old fashioned bar brawl and win with no problem. But the whole calculated thing made her nervous. A few days of sparing with Lucky weren't equal to however many years this man had in experience. His fist dug into her gut and she grimaced still determined to hold on if she couldn't beat him. She strained to hear the sirens that came ever closer and prayed silently that they hurried.

Alexis swore she didn't hear the sirens when they neared. Her eyes were locked on the door swinging in the doorway to the will of the wind where she had last seen her eldest daughter. Her heart beat wildly at the thought of never seeing her again. So many things they hadn't said to each other. So many times as a family not spent together.

The only indication that help was hear was the screech of tires beside her and the flashing lights of one cop car. Alexis froze when she saw the officer. He glanced from her face to the faces of her daughters determining the obvious. He hesitated when he looked back at the house the moment seemingly stretching on endlessly until he shook his head and broke out into a run bolting through the door.

"Freeze!" Sam heard someone yell and then shots were fired. Heavy footsteps pounded across the floor and another set gave chase. The threat was gone. Sam reached for the nearest thing, the table a few feet from the door, and pulled herself up amidst the broken glass.

Her legs felt wobbly and each breath caused a stabbing pain in her chest. Sam doubled over finding it very hard to move but then relaxed when strong arms held her up then lifted her. She finally let her eyes close and drifted off to the cacophony of her home crumbling from the inside out.

* * *

"Oh my goodness your temperature is over 100!" 

Sam ears perked at the snippet of sound she heard. A tiny voice babbling on about listening to her heartbeat cut through the hazy rest she endured. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when the first sight to greet her was a serious looking Kristina decked out in a mini white lab coat with a stethoscope around her neck. She wore on her head a 'play' doctor's headband.

"I might have to operate," she said then realized Sam was staring at her. Kristina squealed dropping kisses across Sam's face like tiny bombs…bombs? Sam sat up in bed ignoring the sudden flash of pain she felt in her midsection and began to check over her sister. There were a few scratches and bruises, a band-aid on her knee but nothing too horrible. Sam breathed a sigh of relief until Kristina decided it was time to tell everyone else the good news. She hopped down from Sam's bed and ran out the door before Sam could properly blink.

Sam glanced around frowning at the deeply colored wood of her canopy bed. Upon further scrutinizing the immaculate designs she didn't need any more clues to tell her where she was: Wyndemere.

She looked at the hardwood clock on her bedside table. Twelve thirty? A.M.?

"Morning sunshine," Nikolas stood at her door, Kristina tugging on his hand then disappearing down the hallway. He wore a white t-shirt and what looked like an old pair of sweat pants. Sam was impressed.

"So this is what the Prince's pajama's look like."

"You missed my silk phase. I had a different pair for each night. I see she got you," Nikolas smiled at her. Sam looked down at her arms and laughed at the many 'bandages' attached. There were some on her hands and Sam now noticed a small one on Nikolas' neck.

"You missed one," Sam tapped her neck in correspondence to Nikolas'. He sighed not in a hurry to remove it.

"I doubt it's the last one. She nearly bandaged Alexis to death earlier."

Sam took a deep breath before asking.

"Is Alexis--?"

"Fine."

"Molly—"

"Sleeping peacefully in Spencer's bassinet."

"Lucky?"

"Not a scratch and sleeping downstairs if you want to go jump on him. Emily and and Kristina did conspire a few hours ago to paint his toenails an awful shade of pink"

Sam shook her head at her sister's antics. "He's out cold?"

"Well it's been a busy day for all of us, of course he's out—never mind."

"This one," Lucky groaned, leaning against the doorway, still dressed in his street clothes, "Has a knack for jumping on people."

"Well she learns from the best," Sam replied. Lucky grinned and walked inside of the room absently rubbing away one of Kristina's special band-aids. Nikolas was hesitant to follow as if breaking some rule. Lucky sat on the edge of the bed and patted Sam's knee.

"You okay?"

"As fine as a girl who got her ass thoroughly whooped would be."

"You?"

"Fine and dandy. All I did was carry you to safety."

Sam frowned at that wondering who then had chased off the mysterious man. She shook off her interest and began to get out of bed groaning at every crack, pop, and burn she felt.

Alarmed Lucky placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We have work to do," Sam looked at Lucky's hand then to his face and sighed.

"We have rest to do."

"Lucky someone just blew up my house," Sam replied.

"Not like I need reminding but I'd say anything that's rolling around in your head right now can wait until you're better."

Sam glared at him then kept going.

"Well screw that. Haven't you heard? I'm that damn train that keeps on chugging and right now I want answers."

Lucky got up and stood in front of her.

"What about the academy? If you injure yourself any further you may not be ready by next week."

Indecision played across Sam's face but then rolled her shoulders slowly avoiding as much pain as possible. She remembered how she felt inside the burning house. How terrified Alexis looked.

"Let us handle it Sam," Lucky tried.

Sam shook her head.

"Lucky whoever did this almost killed my family," Sam's voice rose and even Nikolas raised his eyebrows.

"Oh and I suppose you going after them all banged up like you are is going to really help, right? Why don't you just stick a note on your forehead that says come kill me now?"

"Whoa!" Nikolas was off the bed and between them. Kristina's feet pounded across the floor in the hallway. He sighed heavily sounding more tired than Sam remembered. "That girl just won't go to sleep."

Sam frowned. Lucky softened a bit but remained firmly planted in her path.

"She's refused to go to sleep since we got here. She said she wanted to watch over you but I think she's just scared since the explosions happened when she was asleep."

Kristina ran past the door again and Nikolas went to get her. He hung in the doorway for a moment.

"Can we just all remember that we love each other and not fight? It's been a long twenty four hours."

Nikolas left it with that, scooping Kristina up on her next run through and walking down the hall with her.

"You weren't inside that house. It was impossible," Sam took a deep breath and sat down on the bed. Lucky sat beside her and nudged her shoulder as gently as possible.

"What happened before Cruz got there?"

"Cruz?"

"He got there a few minutes before me."

Sam was stunned for a moment. Cruz had actually saved her? Her shoulders sunk with the added grief.

"What happened before he got there?" Lucky asked again.

"The man that was inside? Lucky, if Cruz hadn't come in when he did I don't know if I'd be sitting here. He beat the hell out of me."

Lucky watched her go from somber to angry.

"I should have been able to fight him."

"A trained assassin? I'm a good teacher but hey, even I know to admit that I'm not that good."

"Still, I should have been able to hold him off. If Alexis hadn't got Molly and Kristina out—"

"Now hold on. By all accounts I believe it was you that got them out to safety."

Sam looked down at her hands both with small cuts from the back to her palm. Hands that had killed a man and were now useless to protect those she loved.

"You're being to hard on yourself," Lucky told her. "Way too hard. You did what you could and guess what? You're alive, Alexis is alive, Molly and Kristina…yep them too."

"I just know that this isn't over. Someone doesn't just blow up your house and leave it alone when you don't burn up inside. The explosion was meant to scare us. The man inside the house was there to kill us. I just know there's more to come."

"And we'll deal with it. You, Nikolas, and me. He's already going to look into guards for Wyndemere."

Sam remembered what it was like for her to have guards with her twenty four seven.

"Whatever happens we'll all whether the storm together, okay?"

Sam nodded then leaned her head on Lucky's shoulder. She felt the muscles in his shoulder stiffen then relax.

"All I know is that when you get into the academy you'll get the training you need. And when you graduate you'll be ready for whatever they throw at you."

"That's if they don't try something before then."

"Stop being so damn negative," Lucky chided. Sam was too exhausted to make any kind of argument. The bed was too comfortable, her body felt too bruised, the fight went out of her and she yawned before answering him.

"I'll try."

* * *

Disclaimer: Sam's spirit was not damaged during the writing process of this chapter. Kristina's doctor kit however might disappear never to be seen again. 


End file.
